Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 97 Corporal 11th Canadian Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, 2nd Canadian Infantry Division The following stories are some events that happened after our landing on the beaches of Normandy, France, in 1944. I hope they will be of interest. I have had many scary moments, and, as you may have heard war veterans say, "There were no atheists in the front lines." This I believe because of some of the experiences I have had, and my reaction to them. Normandy, France July, 1944 Bridge Building Around the 18th and 19th of July, 1944, the 11th Field Company, RCE, built a Class 40 raft for ferry service across the Orne River near the Caen Race-Course. As recorded in the history of the Royal Canadian Engineers, Volume 2, the raft was ready for use at 0600 hours, but did no business until 0900 hours when it began to take Sherman tanks across the river. The river at this point was only 120 feet across and the round trip took no more than five minutes. Our next job was building a 140ft Class 30 Double-Double Bailey Bridge. A number of us had to cross on our raft to the far side to prepare the approach for the bridge. I recall that it was necessary for us to blow a cement wall, which was in the way. Following completion of the approach, were turned to the other side to assist in the building of the bridge. As it turned out, this bridge was a heart-breaking job. When first launched, the nose failed and the bridge had to be withdrawn and rebuilt. On the second launching, in heavy rain, the near-side bankseats shifted and the bridge had to be jacked up while the bankseats were replaced. Finally it opened for traffic at 11:30hrs on the 22nd of July. Norman V. Hoeg F-51278 Canadian Army 1942-1946 continued ...
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